Thank you for honestly sharing your background and Steemit journey klye.
I agree that persistence is the most important skill when striving for success and that holds true for most things in life. Just look at some of the most successful business people. People like Elon Musk has repeatedly been proclaiming the importance of not giving up when working towards what you believe in.
I would also like to add a little to the "Stop copying others" tip: Try to spice your post messages up with personal experiences. When you add your own life experiences to whatever topic, you automatically create a unique niche noone else can copy. Do not be afraid to be really personal, this is a social media after all and people are partly here to socialize.
thanks
@ronni